1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a quick connector assembly for piping. The quick connector assembly includes a male member and a female member which are connected with each other to connect hoses or pipes for transferring a variety of fluids. Thus, the present invention belongs to an engineering field of piping connector technologies.
2. Description of the Related Art
(First Type Conventional Quick Connector Assembly)
There has been a first type conventional quick connector assembly as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,497. As illustrated in FIGS. 25 through 27, the quick connector assembly comprises a male member 72, a female member 77, and a retainer 78.
As illustrated in FIG. 25, the male member 72 is a cylinder-shaped member, and has an insertion end portion 71 on which a ring-shaped projection 70 is disposed to project in centrifugal direction at a position away from the tip by a predetermined distance. Whilst, the female member 77 comprises a substantially-cylinder-shaped housing 76 on an end in an axial direction. This housing 76 includes an insertion opening end portion 73 into which the insertion end portion 71 of the male member 72 is inserted, a receiving portion 74 which is disposed inside the insertion opening end portion 73 in the axial direction, and a first engagement portion 75 which is disposed in the receiving portion 74. The retainer 78 is inserted into the receiving portion 74 from the insertion opening end portion 73 so as to be accommodated in the receiving portion 74, and is a member for connecting the male member 72, which is fitted from the insertion opening end portion 73, with the female member 77.
As illustrated in FIG. 26, the retainer member 78 includes an annular collar 79 which has an inside diameter substantially equal to an outside diameter of the insertion end portion 71 of the male member 72, and three legs 80 which extend integrally from the annular collar 79 in the axial direction. The legs 80 are elastically deformable in a radial direction inward and outward in the receiving portion 74 of the female member 77. Further, the legs 80 include an engagement concavity 81 on the inner-surface side. The engagement concavity 81 can engage with the ring-shaped projection 70 of the male member 72 which is fitted from the insertion opening end portion 73 of the female member 77. Furthermore, the legs 80 include a second engagement portion 82 on the outer-surface side. The second engagement portion 82 can engage with the first engagement portion 75 of the female member 77.
Thus, the first type conventional quick connector assembly is connected in the following procedure. First, the male member 72 is inserted into the retainer 78 while elastically deforming the legs 80 of the retainer 78 by the ring-shaped projection 70 of the male member 72 in a radial direction outward. Then, the ring-shaped projection 70 of the male member 72 fits in the engagement concavity 81 of the retainer 78 to engage therewith. Thereafter, the retainer 78 holding the male member 72 is inserted into the female member 77, the second engagement portion 82 of the retainer 78 fits in the first engagement portion 75 of the female member 72 to engage therewith. Consequently, the male member 72 and female member 77 are connected with each other by interposing the retainer 78 between the male member 72 and female member 77.
(Second Type Conventional Quick Connector Assembly)
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 7-71,673 discloses a second type conventional quick connector assembly. The second type conventional quick connector assembly comprises a retainer having a letter C shape in cross-section whose arrangements and operations are different from the retainer 78 of the first type conventional quick connector assembly.
As illustrated in FIG. 28, the second type conventional quick connector assembly comprises a male member 72, a female member 77, a retainer 90, and sealing members such as O-rings. Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 29, the retainer 90 comprises a body 92, second engagement portions 93, and operation arms 94.
The arrangements of the retainer 90 will be hereinafter described in detail. The body 92 comprises a C-ring-shaped tapered wall. The C-ring-shaped tapered wall can enlarge diametrically by elastic deformation in the receiving portion 74 of the female member 77, and is tapered from a large diameter to a small diameter in the axial direction from an end (i.e., left side in FIG. 28) to other end (i.e., right side in FIG. 28). The retainer 90 further has contacts 91 on the minor-diameter side of the body 92. When the male member 72 and female member 77 are connected, the contacts 91 prevent the male member 72 from coming off in the axial direction toward the one end. The second engagement portions 93 are formed integrally on an outer peripheral surface on the major-diameter side of the body 92, and are detents which engage with a first engagement portion 75 of the female member 77. The operation arms 94 are formed on the major-diameter-side end surface of the body 92, and operate to cancel the engagement between the first engagement portion 75 and second engagement portions 93 by reducing the diameter of the major-diameter-end side of the body 92.
Thus, the second type conventional quick connector assembly is connected in the following procedure. First, the male member 72 is inserted into the retainer 90 while enlarging the body 92 of the retainer 90 diametrically by elastic deformation with the ring-shaped projection 70 of the male member 72. Accordingly, the ring-shaped projection 70 of the male member 72 contacts with the contacts 91 of the retainer 90. Then, the insertion end portion 71 of the male member 72, and the retainer 90 are inserted into the female member 77 by pressing the retainer 90. Accordingly, the first engagement portion 75 of the female member 77 fits with the second engagement portions 93 of the retainer 78, thereby engaging the retainer 90 with the female member 72. Consequently, the male member 72 is prevented from coming off from the female member 77 by interposing the retainer 90 between the ring-shaped projection of the male member 72 and the first engagement portion 75 of the female member 77. Thus, the male member 72 and female member 77 are connected with each other by the retainer 90.
(Problems with First Type Conventional Quick Connector Assembly)
In the first type conventional quick connector assembly, when separating the male member 72 and female member 77, the legs 80 of the retainer 78 are deformed elastically in the radial direction inward to cancel the engagement between the first engagement portion 75 of the female member 77 and the second engagement portions 82 of the retainer 78. Then, under the circumstances, the male member 72 is pulled off from the female member 77 together with the retainer 78 in the axial direction. Accordingly, the male 72 and female member 77 can be separated.
After the male member 72 and female member 77 are thus separated, the insertion end portion 71 of the female member 72 is still inserted into the annular collar 79 of the retainer 78. Moreover, the ring-shaped projection 70 of the male member 72 engages with the engagement concavity 81 of the retainer 78. Consequently, the retainer 78 holds the male member 72.
However, when removing the retainer 78, held onto the male member 72, from the male member 72, and if the aforementioned state is kept, the retainer 78 cannot be pulled off from the male member 72 in the axial direction or in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction. Accordingly, the legs 80 of the retainer 78 are deformed so as to warp greatly in the radial direction outward so that the engagement concavity 81 of the retainer 78 is disengaged from the ring-shaped projection 70 of the male member 72. Then, the retainer 78 should be pulled off from the male member 72 in the axial direction. Consequently, the great deformation of the legs 80 of the retainer 78 may result in fractures. Thus, not only it is hard to remove the retainer 78, but also it is difficult to reuse the retainer 78.
Whilst, a releasing jig can be prepared independently. After separating the male member 72 and female member 77, the releasing jig is inserted inside the legs 80 to elastically deform the legs 80 in the radial direction outward. The engagement between the engagement concavity 81 and ring-shaped projection 70 can be canceled. In this way, it is possible to pull off the retainer 78 from the male member 72 in the axial direction without greatly deforming the legs 80. The releasing jig is a special jig which has a cylinder-shaped member at the leading end. The cylinder-shaped member has an inside diameter which is slightly larger than the outside diameter of the male member 72, and an outside diameter which is substantially equal to the outside diameter of the ring-shaped projection 70. However, not only it is cumbersome to prepare such a releasing jig on actual manufacturing sites, but also it is difficult in many occasions to fit the male member 72, which is connected with a pipe, etc., into the releasing jig. Therefore, even if the releasing jig is used, it is hard to say that the retainer 78 can be removed from the male member 72 with ease.
Thus, in the first type conventional quick connector assembly, not only it is hard to remove the retainer 78, but also it is difficult to reuse the retainer 78.
(Problems with Second Type Conventional Quick Connector Assembly)
In the second type conventional quick connector assembly, the male member 72 and female member 77 are separated in the following procedure. First, the operation arms 94 of the retainer 90 are pressed to reduce the diameter of the body 92 on the major-diameter-end side. Consequently, the engagement between the second engagement portions 93 and the first engagement portion 75 of the female member 77 are canceled. Under the circumstances, the male member 72 is pulled off from the female member 77 together with the retainer 90 in the axial direction. Accordingly, the male 72 and retainer 90 can be separated from the female member 77 as a whole.
However, after the male member 72 and female member 77 are separated, the retainer 90 is not at all prevented from coming off from the male member 72 in an opposite direction with respect to the tip of the insertion end portion 71. Accordingly, when the retainer 90 is pulled off from the female member 71 together with the male member 72, the retainer 90 is displaced greatly to the opposite side of the tip of the insertion end portion 71 with respect to the male member 72. Thus, there arises a problem in that the operability is deteriorated in the subsequent process.
In addition, when the male member 72 is pulled off from the female member 77 to disconnect the second type conventional quick connector assembly as aforementioned, the retainer 90 is not engaged with the male member 72. Therefore, there is a possibility of losing the retainer 90 because the retainer 90 falls down along the male member 72. This makes it difficult to reuse the retainer 90, and should be strictly prevented on actual manufacturing sites where the existence of foreign materials results in problems. Hence, it is necessary to disconnect the quick connector assembly with the greatest possible care.